1989 Mazda B2200 - Iowa Famous

A Local Mazda Goes Worldwide

Cody Paulus was introduced to customized trucks the same way most of us probably were. There's just something about seeing a slammed truck hitting the corners of the familiar streets where we grew up; but in Cody's case, he got a very up-close and personal taste of one as a young teen.

Back in the day, Cody's older sister was dating a guy who drove around in a static-dropped S-10 with a tilt bed, which Cody thought was just the coolest thing on the road. Ever since those days nearly 13 years ago, Cody has always had an eye for low-rolling minis and has developed an insatiable taste for Mazdas in particular. After a few more years spent admiring the rides of others, Cody finally was old enough to take ownership of and to tweak a couple minis to his liking. Once he grew tired of those projects, he found this '89 B2200 that he was just aching to call his own. The year was 2001, and Cody was a broke high-school student. With his hopes high, and his cash flow low, Cody found himself in an unpromising position. But his grandpa understood what the Mazda represented, so he offered to loan him $1,500 to make the transaction.

In that first year of ownership, Cody 'bagged his new truck, and then bodydropped it the year after. Obviously, the man is not one to waste time when it comes to driving the lowest mini in town, but it did take another four years for him to conduct major cosmetic surgery to his truck's surface. With the Mazda's scheduled debut rapidly approaching, Cody found himself dealing with a cracked windshield, an unsightly golf ball-textured hood, and the task of cutting the roof off completely to weld in a new one without a 40x40 ragtop. Luckily, he surrounded himself with a willing group of guys to lend some assistance, and once everything was complete, the truck mirrored the mental picture he had taken well before work even started.

Of course, there are lots of things that could have been done differently in retrospect. Cody wishes that he would've shaved the firewall and tubbed for bigger billets, and he just might get around to tackling those in the near future. He also wishes that his grandpa was still around so he could repay him for his generosity and present to him the finished product. With this version of the Mazda being its fourth reincarnation, and no doubt its best, we're sure it will get its due recognition from the global minitruckin' community.